The threat of jihadist terrorism does not give truce to the security forces and bodies. After closing 2022 with the arrest of 46 suspected jihadists –most of them in Catalonia, Ceuta and Melilla–, all the focuses of the fight against terrorism are now focused on one profile: the foreign terrorist fighter. Citizens who traveled to conflict zones years ago to join the jihadist ranks, but who, after the fall of the Islamic State caliphate, are returning to their countries of origin with the possible intention of attacking.
Last summer, an investigation by the general information police station led to the arrest of two foreign terrorist fighters with links to Spain. His case serves as a paradigm of the security challenge facing all of Europe. In 2014 they moved to Syria, where they joined the jihadist ranks to receive military training with which to gain combat experience.
They were there for years, but with the loss of territories in the Syrian-Iraqi area by terrorist groups, the detainees moved to Turkey waiting to cross clandestinely to Europe. One was arrested in Austria – thanks to an arrest warrant issued by the National Court – and the other in Mataró, days after arriving in the province of Barcelona.
This is currently the “greatest concern” in the fight against terrorism, which involves anticipating neutralizing these individuals, according to sources from the National Police explain to La Vanguardia. Without forgetting the solitary self-indoctrinated actors on social networks –which accounted for the majority of detainees in 2022–. “They left Spain to live the dream of the caliphate and when that idyllic world disappeared, all they have left is their place of origin or where their family is right now,” the same sources explain about the return of fighters of Spanish origin.
The latest annual National Security Report states that in 2021 a total of 258 jihadists (227 men and 31 women) displaced from Spain were in conflict zones –Syria or Iraq, mainly–. According to the same official data, 57 have already returned to Spain, while 76 have died. However, the latest figure is taken with great caution by researchers, who recall that on occasions the propaganda apparatus of terrorist organizations have offered images of alleged deceased combatants that have later appeared in Europe. “We do not trust, it is very difficult to confirm,” they warn.
Not all returnees received military training. Nor do all those who return have the intention of committing a terrorist action when they are disillusioned or fatigued. But all profiles “are treated equally” in this police operation to anticipate to prevent, according to details from the Police.
The Elcano Royal Institute also warns in its latest report Spain in the world 2023: security prospects and challenges that returning foreign fighters “can carry out attacks in connection with the organizations to which they remain loyal, by themselves or after having mobilized other individuals with a similar purpose”. The returns are taking place, as the information groups have motorized, through the immigration route of the Balkans or through northern Morocco. At this point, the police sources insist on “the great concern” that exists over the situation in the Sahel, which has become a nest of terrorist organizations that can move up the map “and appear in Ceuta or Melilla.”
